GADGETWISE; Affordable Security, and Smaller Than a Breadbox

By JOHN BIGGS

Published: May 24, 2012

When it comes to video surveillance, it's either feast or famine. Most professional solutions depend on hard drive recorders that cost in the thousands of dollars or dinky little cameras with barely enough storage to keep an eye on a bodega for an hour.

The updated Iomega StorCenter ix2 falls right between those two setups, offering up to six terabytes of storage in a package the size of a loaf of bread. The drive has a built-in processor and can handle a number of functions including computer backup, ''remote'' backup over the Internet and the aforementioned video surveillance recording.

When paired with a small video camera, the ix2 will automatically record a scene using Iomega's Integrated Video Management System software. The ix2 supports networked cameras from Sony, Panasonic, LG and Axis - up to 10 cameras at once. You can schedule recording times as well as watch all of the cameras at once using a Web interface.

The system starts at $199 for a drive enclosure, and the cameras cost about $160. Although a complete setup can get expensive, it is still cheaper than building a room full of CRT monitors ?a the surveillance room in the movie ''Sliver.''

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.